So this is interesting, on March 18th the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted a patent to Amazon covering a specific method to
achieve the common photographic technique of capturing an image of a subject against a plain white background.

No, that is not exactly what
the patent is for. The background can be any color, the main part of the method is in the use of a transparent table on which the subject is
positioned and the arrangement of lighting.

The elevated platform is configured with a top surface made of a material that can include, but is not limited to a plastic, such as Poly (methyl
methacrylate), which is commonly known as "plexi-glass," and/or any other materials that possess a degree of transparency as well as reflectivity.
Such a material produces an effect in images and/or video of the subject such that a reflection of the subject appears beneath the subject but where
the top surface of the elevated platform blends seamlessly into a true white background.

It should be appreciated that a background of any color may be chosen and due to the positioning of the various elements in the studio
arrangement, light emanating from the background reflects off of the top surface of the elevated platform, into an image capture device positioned
according to the disclosure, and causes the top surface of the elevated platform to appear the same color as the background

It's mainly an improvement on greenscreening, since any color can be used and allowing the entire subject to be visually isolated from any background
(or support).

Prior art solutions for achieving such a result for capturing images and/or video of objects set against a true white background include solutions
that often involve some type of image retouching, post processing, “green screen” techniques, or other special effects and image and video
manipulation to achieve the result of an object set against a true white background. Accordingly, as will be described herein, embodiments of the
present disclosure provide a studio arrangement in which an object can be photographed and/or filmed, and the images and/or video captured by the
camera achieve the effect noted above without any image manipulation due to the particular arrangements of the subject, camera, lighting and
background.

NOTHING about this makes sense...
Shooting against a white background has probably been done even before the idea of Amazon existed..
It is a well known, used & appreciated technique..
and no advertising company would want to hire a photographer who can not provide 'quality' shoots.

for still life & product photography, it is ESSENTIAL to shoot on a reflective surface, just so that what you are shooting appears natural...
you know any object creates a shadow? and seeing the shadow makes the image closer to seeing the actual visual representation.

But this herd of critics is missing the main point: the patent is not just about the color of the background. The patent filing describes the
specific technique and lighting placement needed to achieve a "near perfect" seamless white backdrop, including a slight reflection, in a single
shot.

Photographer Ken Rockwell explained the discrepancy in a May 27 blog post. He calls it a "very clever" technique that "saves loads of time making
studio shots" by eliminating the need to add or adjust the reflection using Photoshop or other programs.

If photographers don't shoot subjects just right, he explains, they need to spend time creating a fake reflection in postproduction. The new method
speeds up the process, allowing photographers to eliminate postproduction time and therefore work more cost effectively.

Critics have also been pondering the point of the applying for a patent that will be nearly impossible to enforce. This point is fair -- unless
studio photographers start to advertise that they're copying the technique. If they do that, Rockwell pointed out, they "might be hearing from
Amazon."

Ken Rockwell is just another money making machine who really doesn't know what he's talking about.
you won't be able to get through one of the pages on his site without him throwing his kids in your face & asking for money.
for a few years he spoke everything positive about nikon & for a few more years he's on the canon bandwagon, bashing the same products he once
glorified.

there isn't much amazon can do about it & yes it confers to a specific type of shooting with a specific light placement & reflectors etc...
but still, why the hell does amazon want to patent something like this??

The patent lays the groundwork for a technique, which is not really that well documented. That lets you have a trade secret using regular equipment,
but how it is placed, manipulated and developed is patent-able.

Even with great equipment, novice photographers have a real challenge producing white background images, just try it to find out. I would say the
patent as shown is borderline trivial, but the experts at Amazon that use it are the real key.

This content community relies on user-generated content from our member contributors. The opinions of our members are not those of site ownership who maintains strict editorial agnosticism and simply provides a collaborative venue for free expression.